This region's very wet weather is not surprising; geography dictates that the South Western monsoon winds, laden with moisture and attracted to the low pressure centers of the surrounding regions, sweep across the length and breadth of India to unload rain by the bucketful during the rainy season.

Still counted as one of the rainiest places on earth, these hills receive about 450 inches (i.e., 37.5 feet) of rainfall annually.

Cherrapunjee currently holds two Guinness world records:

-- For receiving the maximum amount of rainfall in a single year: 22,987 mm (905 inches. i.e., about 75.4 feet) of rainfall between August 1860 and July 1861

-- For receiving the maximum amount of rainfall in a single month: 9299.96 mm (366.14 inches, i.e., 30.5 feet) in July 1861.